Crime Scene Investigation Essay

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Crime Scene Investigations
When working a crime scene there are many steps that must take place in order for any investigation to hold up in court. A proper investigation can take hours but the end result can lead to a conviction of the guilty and justice for victim’s families.
The first officer at the crime scene should do everything they can to keep all evidence in its original state. The crime scene must be blocked off immediately to avoid any contamination or loss of evidence. Boundaries should be established as to how far out or each area of the scene that needs be secluded. This will include any paths of entry or exits and areas where evidence has been discarded or located. (Saferstein, R pg 38) All areas of the crime scene should be blocked off using tape, ropes, or traffic cones. If the crime took place indoors a single room can be blocked off depending place crime occurred to the surrounding area around a home. Police barricades and guards can help with securing the scene as well this is a good way to monitor the area to make sure no unwanted people get through and cause loss of evidence. This will include officers that are not involved in the case, neighbors, family of victim. Securing the crime scene must be done in a timely manner and all persons entering the scene should be recorded and times of the entry should be taken as well. Before anyone can enter the scene the responding officer must first establish a walk way to enter to ensure that no evidence is being touched and out of the way before walking into the scene, this will include investigators or medical examiners that need to get to any victims that may be injured.
Once the crime scene has been blocked off and secured the investigators will process the area. At this time a strategy is put into place. This will start the examination of the area and documentation of all evidence at the scene. A walk through of the scene will take place by the lead investigator to establish how the scene...